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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800620">Facing Fears</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai'>LetoaSai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>StrifeHart Fluff [44]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Hospital Visit, M/M, doubts, getting well</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:42:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud didn't like hospitals, but that's where his son was until he could come home. He'd just have to suck it up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cloud/Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Leon (Kingdom Hearts)/Squall Leonhart/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>StrifeHart Fluff [44]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1108581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>93</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Facing Fears</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>disclaimer: do not own Kingdom Hearts</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud didn’t like hospitals. He didn’t like emergency rooms, he really didn’t like I.C.U’s. He barely tolerated doctors' offices. Just the whole idea of sick people was hard to get around. He’d only been a boy when he watched his mother waste away to nothing. </p>
<p>Geostigma had hit her hard and it had taken years for her to die. It was an awful thing to watch. There were days where he wished for her to die, just so she could rest. Just so she could stop coughing. Just so she wouldn’t be in pain anymore. </p>
<p>He thought he’d be ready for it, but when she finally died when he was twelve, a piece of him went with her. He’d cried for hours, broken hearted and too young to do anything about it. He wasn’t allowed to make any decisions for her and was brushed aside. </p>
<p>All he could do was be a good big brother and keep Denzel safe and with him. </p>
<p>That didn’t mean he was a afraid of hospitals. If one of his baby’s was there, so was he. He didn’t let personal feelings get in the way. At least he hadn’t until Reiku, and fuck if he didn’t hate that hesitation. </p>
<p>The only thing worse than a sick person was a sick child. A whole hospital ward of sick children. If there was one thing the world shouldn’t allow it was sick children. It was devastating to see, he couldn’t imagine living through it. </p>
<p>He’d been to see Reiku several times now, but nowhere near as much as Leon. Leon had been there almost every day even if it was just for a few minutes. He loved his babies more than anything. </p>
<p>Reiku had finally had his transplant. It felt like it had been pending for weeks but his fever was gone and the procedure was done and so far...so far everything was going well. It wouldn’t be long now before he could go home. </p>
<p>Cloud moved through the halls of the hospital, ingoring the churning in his stomach. He didn't want to think abut how many poor children were here. When he finally found Reiku's room and wasn’t at all surprised to find Vincent there, sitting at his beside. Shadow snoozing at the foot of the bed. </p>
<p>Vincent was tilted to the side, letting Reiku braid strands of his hair from his laying down position. </p>
<p>“Hey.” Cloud smiled a little when both of them looked up at him. </p>
<p>“Cloud!” Reiku smiled, pale but happy. He was recovering slowly. </p>
<p>Vincent’s smile was soft, knowing how hard it was for Cloud to be there. He hadn’t had to stay himself. The procedure hadn’t been all that hard on him but he opted to stay and take whatever recovery time they wanted him to have. It also gave him time to spend with Reiku and gave Cloud and Leon time to get last minute things ready.</p>
<p>“How are you? Both of you?” Cloud asked, coming in to sit on his other side. “You should both be resting.” </p>
<p>“We are resting.” Vincent promised. </p>
<p>“Valentine is teaching me to braid.” Reiku said, fingers still curled around Vincent’s hair to keep the strands from unraveling. </p>
<p>Vincent laughed quietly and patted his knee. “You’re getting really good at it.” </p>
<p>“When… when i’m all better.” Reiku started, swallowing shakily as he verbalized his secret wish. “I’m gonna grow my hair real, real long. I’ll braid it and do all kinds of stuff to it. Clips and..and...no more hats and…” </p>
<p>Cloud reached out and realized then how ingrained in him it was to brush his kids hair out of their eyes. He didn’t dare pull back though. He cupped the back of Reiku’s head and kissed his forehead. “Honey, we’ll get you any little hair things you want. I’m sure if we give you a little time your hair will be even longer than Vincent’s.” </p>
<p>Vincent laughed. “We will make sure of it.” </p>
<p>Reiku’s eyes grew larger, delighted at the idea. “You think it’ll get that long?” </p>
<p>“You’ll have years and years to grow it.” Cloud promised, smiling at the boy. “It won’t be long now, you’ll get to come home soon.” </p>
<p>“Just…” Reiku looked nervous, lips wobbly. He'd been oddly resigned to die. Always careful to never get his hopes up when it came to recovery. He never thought they'd find him a donor. Now he was faced with the rest of his life and the nerves were kicking in. “Will it really be okay? I’ve never really gotten to leave here. I.. i don’t really…” </p>
<p>“New places can be scary.” Vincent agreed, “But so much less scary when the place is so welcoming.” </p>
<p>“I’ll be there. Leon too. Riku will be there.” Cloud promised. “You have  bunch of brothers and a sister waiting.” </p>
<p>Reiku released Vincent’s hair and reached to take Cloud’s hand. “What if i’m not a good brother.” </p>
<p>“You’ll learn, and there's no such thing as the perfect brother.” Cloud smiled. “And you know, it’s a lot to suddenly have so many siblings. If there’s ever a moment where you’d like to be alone, that can be arranged too.” </p>
<p>“Why would i want to be alone?” Reiku asked. </p>
<p>Cloud chuckled. He loved his family but he loved being alone too. “Well, take Ventus and Vanitas for example. They were used to it just being the two of them. They were used to..quiet.” it seemed like the best way to explain it. “Now they love having younger siblings but sometimes it’s too noisy and they just want to have some quiet time. That's okay.” </p>
<p>“You might find there are moments where you want to be by yourself and read for a little while.” Vincent added. “It’s okay to take the time for yourself. Cloud often did when he was little.” </p>
<p>“Really?” </p>
<p>“Oh yeah.” Vincent laughed. “When he wasn’t causing trouble on the airship.” </p>
<p>Cloud scoffed. “Excuse me? I was an angel.” </p>
<p>“And a liar?” Vincent waved the comment off. “He ran a muck on a daily basis. Getting underfoot and in the way. Cid loved it.” </p>
<p>“No he didn’t.” Cloud said, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips. He remembered Cid screaming at him on the airship like it was yesterday. </p>
<p>Vincent shrugged. “In the moment, perhaps not, but over all? He loved it. You made the crew work harder. You made them look bad by being eager to work. You were his shadow, acting just like him.” </p>
<p>“I’d work on an airship.” Reiku said, “I’d work anywhere.” </p>
<p>“You’ll get your chance.” Cloud promised. “When you’re older. Bigger.” Stronger...but he didn’t come right out and say it that way.</p>
<p>He was however thinking of workouts that might benefit him. He was not going to toss Reiku into a self defense class. His little body needed time to recover. He’d start with stretches and maybe work their way up to Yuffie’s yoga class. </p>
<p>Getting healthy physically would take time. </p>
<p>“Well i don’t know about working on an airship.” Vincent mused. “But if you’re looking for a ride on one, that could certainly be arranged.” </p>
<p>“Really?” </p>
<p>Cloud laughed. “Oh yeah. Pop and Valentine have their own fleet and i have a smaller one myself. You’ll definitely get a chance. Vanitas loves airships and wants to go up all the time.” </p>
<p>“Anything will be fun.” Reiku said. They’d made him so many promises of places they would take him or things they could do. They all gave Shadow a look when the dog yawned and rolled over. He hopped up the bed a little to lick Reiku’s face. </p>
<p>Reiku just laughed and petted him. “Like walking Shadow. I think he’d like to go outside for that. A long walk instead of short ones."</p>
<p>“Lucky we have a yard.” Cloud mused. Though he’d put checking the fence on the list of things to do before they got home.</p>
<p>“Yeah. A yard.” Reiku looked at his dog and smiled. Maybe they were thinking too big. Yes, he’d like to go up in an airship and go to the beach, but there were little things too. He wanted to have his own comfortable bed and a yard to walk his dog and to be able to watch movies with his new siblings. </p>
<p>It would take time for him to figure out his new wants. </p>
<p>“You’ll be home soon.” Vincent promised. At this point it was really just a matter of days. </p>
<p>“And you won’t change your minds?” Reiku asked quietly, unable to make eye contact with either of them. </p>
<p>Cloud shifted a little to get Reiku to look at him again. “Change our minds? Rei, it’s finally official. You’re ours now. You are my son. There is no changing minds anymore. This is real.” </p>
<p>Reiku inhaled slowly, the poor thing all nerves. “Can i... call you dad?” </p>
<p>“Of course you can. The others call me papa and Squall dad.” </p>
<p>“Papa…” Reiku repeated softly, clinging to Cloud’s hand. Shadow licked his face again and Cloud nudged the dog out of the way to scoot closer to and hug Reiku close. soon his baby would be out of his hospital for good.</p>
<p>“Son.” </p>
<p>Reiku curled up against his chest for the first time, cheek squished against Cloud’s shoulder. </p>
<p>“You’ll be home soon Rei. Promise.” </p>
<p>They were so close now.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Series Master List. In order. Mostly. </p>
<p>Out of Order<br/>A Winning Distraction (in the middle of Out of Order)<br/>Quiet Midnight (in the middle of Out of Order)<br/>Radiant Christmas (in the middle of Out of Order)<br/>Successful Romance (in the middle of Out of Order)<br/>First Dance<br/>Until Monday<br/>Repeat<br/>Not enough treats<br/>Wager<br/>Calling Home (technically just before and just after Wager)<br/>Renewals <br/>Date Night<br/>Sick Lions<br/>Bad Memories<br/>Not Perfect (could really fit in a few places, here is fine)<br/>Patience<br/>Long Weekends<br/>Fever<br/>Melee<br/>Time will Tell<br/>Rumble<br/>Fortitude<br/>A Day for Two<br/>Summer Sun<br/>Homemade<br/>Moving on<br/>Probably Haunted<br/>The Night Before: by Kutikue<br/>It’s only two more<br/>Safeguard<br/>Finding Sleep<br/>Wishes<br/>Lights out<br/>Professional Aid<br/>Hope: by Jokul_Nightfury_Frost<br/>Match<br/>Foresight<br/>Surrounded by Kindness<br/>Connected<br/>Christmas Wisdom <br/>On the Eve<br/>Face Time<br/>Errands <br/>Facing Fears</p></blockquote></div></div>
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